Looming Shadow
by Z-Man91
Summary: 2007 movieverse. When the war for the Allspark began, Sky Shadow had decided that he would remain neutral. He didn't agree with the ideals of either side, and didn't wish to choose one. So Fate made the choice for him. Rated T to be safe.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: Every Movieverse FanFic I've read so far has followed the same basic format. When a story set after the events of the movie, new characters are added with little to no back-story. I know that the movie did this with its characters, but there were prequel comics written for this reason. As both a reader and a writer, I can't stand it when a major character is thrown into a story without _any _back-story (either in the story itself or in stories that came before, unless the character is a Decepticon who's only purpose is to die, though even they should at least have a brief description). I started this story for that very reason. I intend to write a story that takes place after the movie, where I will throw in new transformers. This story is meant to serve as a back-story for three of the more prominent new characters to be in my movie sequel. In effect, it's a prequel to a sequel (with the movie in between).

Disclaimer: Transformers and all related characters are owned by Hasbro, not me. I own only the personalities of the non-movie characters, and the names of the characters I created.

**Chapter One**

**The War Rages On**

The war for the Allspark was taking its toll on the once peaceful Cybertron. Sectors where beautiful, pristine cities once stood had been reduced to rubble. Ground which had once been barren was covered with the twisted remains of the war's casualties. Some still twitched, trying in vain to relocate themselves. Others remained inert but functional, waiting for someone to find and repair them – though most knew that nobody ever would. But most did absolutely nothing, for they no longer functioned. The planet now mostly consisted of two types of terrain: quiet, forgotten battlefields and loud, active ones.

One major exception (though it would not be an exception for long) was not located on the planet, but rather one of the planet's moons. Early in the war, Optimus Prime had decided that the Autobots needed a fallback position, in case the Decepticons were able to gain the upper hand. The Autobot leader had decided that the planet's largest moon would serve that purpose perfectly. Unfortunatly, Megatron had anticipated this particular course of action, and had sent an army of troops to the moon in order to secure it for himself. Autobot recon units had detected this army, and Optimus had sent his own force to combat it. The Autobot troops had landed on the far side of the moon, opposite of their Decepticon counterparts, and slowly made their way towards the enemy. Under no circumstances were the Decepticon troops allowed to know of the advancing Autobots until the latter had begun the attack.

A lone Autobot scout was sent ahead of his comrades to scan the area beyond the large hill the Autobot troops had just come to. The scout, a rookie soldier who had just recently joined the war, was determined to show his commanding officers that he had the makings of a true Autobot. Running as fast as he could without making too much noise, he worked his way up the hill. Upon reaching a large outcropping of boulders, the scout ended his advance and hid behind the closest giant rock. Pausing to take a quick look around, to make sure there was no enemy between himself and his fellow soldiers, the scout raised himself from the crouch he had been in, lifted his head above the rock… and was rewarded with a pulse blast to the face.

The Decepticon rookie, gun barrel still bleeding heat from the recently fired shot, took a quick moment to give himself the Transformer equivalent of a self satisfied pat on the back. Had he not done so, he probably would have had time to warn his comrades of the Autobot presence. His inexperience, like that of his recent victim, would cost him his life. Panic mounting from the sight of the Autobot force rounding the crest of the hill at full speed, the Decepticon was able to take out two more foes before he was obliterated by a large volley of pulse blasts. Only a very small piece of singed metal hit the ground, the Autobots having fired way too many shots in their frustration over the loss of their planned sneak attack. Audio receptors ringing from the sound of battle, Decepticon soldiers pored out from their concealed positions and rushed for the advancing Autobots. The once quiet moon now rang with the roar of pulse blasts and the screech of metal hitting metal

The battle was on.

Watching the battle from the copilot's chair of an airborne troop transport, the Autobot known as Inferno fidgeted in his seat. He was the kind of Autobot who preferred the all out brawl of a ground battle to the sickening weaving and twisting of air combat. Being a mechanical being, and therefore not having the organs with which to do so, Inferno was unable to expel the contents of his stomach like he knew organic sentient beings sometimes did when they were in a similar situation. However, he was certain that, if he _had_ contained a stomach, he would have "thrown up", as Jazz referred to the repulsive action. Thinking of Jazz, Inferno shuddered. He could understand why some of his comrades thought Jazz was humorous, even thinking so himself. But unlike some of his fellow Autobots, Inferno couldn't stand Jazz's antics for very long. He vividly remembered the last time one of Jazzes jokes was aimed at him, partly because of the severe humiliation he had endured, but mostly due to his inability to delete the memory file from his computerized brain. _Jazz must have convinced Ratchet to do that to me, _Inferno thought. _That little pain in the circuits would never let anyone forget one of his practical jokes._

The pilot of the transport, an old (by Transformer's standards) Autobot nicknamed Rustbucket by his friends, had noticed Inferno's shuddering out of the corner of his optic. The ancient Autobot glanced over at his copilot and asked, "What eatin' at ya, Hosebot?"

"Nothing really," Inferno answered, smiling at the use of his nickname (Rustbucket had a nickname for every Autobot he had ever met. Sometimes Inferno wondered if Rustbucket even remembered anyone's _real_ name), "Just thinking about Jazz."

Rustbucket nodded, "I understand. That Jazz can be a real trouble maker when he wants to be."

Inferno's smile grew larger, "When he _wants_ to be? I was under the impression that Jazz didn't have a choice in the matter."

Rustbucket chuckled. This grew into one of his famous bouts of all out laughter. These bouts were famous for being extremely contagious, and within a few seconds Inferno joined in. The troops in the back of the transport heard the laughter through the wall that separated them from the cockpit, and instantly tightened their grips on their respective handholds. Within all of their mechanical brains, one thought rose to the surface: _I hope that old timer doesn't forget to watch where he's going!_

After about a minute, Rustbucket calmed down enough to finally reply, "You have a point. I feel sorry for Optimus. He actually has to spend time with Jazz."

"Yeah, poor Optimus. I can't imagi…"

"Hey, what's your problem? In case you've forgotten, we have a job to do!!" This came from one of the soldiers in the back, who had decided to let loose some of his pent up frustration at the two Transformers flying the transport. Being the Transformer in charge of this platoon, Inferno almost called the soldier out for insubordination. But, despite this urge, he did agree with the soldier. There was a time and a place for friendly conversation, and this situation was neither.

Inferno and his platoon were tasked with getting behind the Decepticon line so the Autobots could attack the large grouping of enemies from both sides. Flying with the transport were four Autobots with airborne alternate modes. These Autobots were more maneuverable and had more firepower that the transport, and their job was to make sure the transport reached its destination. So far, their aerial skills had not been required.

That was about to change.

The transport suddenly rocked from a Decepticon pulse cannon blast. Instantly alert, Inferno jolted forward and opened a comm. channel to their escort, "What in the name of Primus was that?!"

The leader of the escort Autobots replied, "We got ourselves a Decepticon. A BIG one! You go on ahead; we'll hang back and take care of him!"

"They can't do that, we need an escort!" Inferno yelled. He reached out to open another comm. channel, but Rustbucket stopped him.

"Let them go. If they stay with us _and_ fight that Decepticon, we probably won't be in enough pieces to land," Rustbucket looked down at the sensor board, pondered the data scrolling across it, and looked back up. "Besides, we're close to our destination and I don't see any enemies between us and it. I think we can survive without an escort for the rest of our little trip."

Inferno thought this over for a few seconds. Seeing the wisdom behind the words, he opened the comm. channel and replied, "Affirmative. We can survive the rest of the trip without you." He paused for a second, then added, "Thanks for the escort."

"Any time, Inferno. It was a pleasure flying with you." As soon as the transmission ended, the airborne Autobots peeled off to engage their new target.

Inferno found himself gripping his seat tighter, almost digging grooves into the metal. He was more nervous than he had ever been in his entire life, which was saying something. He was in a battle, enemies everywhere, and he had just ordered his escort away. Watching the blip representing their ship on the sensor board creep closer and closer to the landing zone, he prayed that no enemy flyers would appear.

His prayers failed miserably.

Four Decepticon blips appeared on the sensor board. Frantic tapping of keys confirmed this: Dreadwing drones. Not intelligent enough for conversation, but smart enough to aim at a target and shoot. And given the size and maneuverability of their target, high intelligence was not required.

Inferno slammed his fist into the armrest of his seat, denting the metal, "For the love of Primus!" He turned to Rustbucket and asked, "Any chance of getting out of this alive?"

Rustbucket shook his head.

Turning back to the sensor board, Inferno watched as the enemy blips moved closer and closer to the transport blip. He waited for the moment when the shields would fail, leaving them defenseless.

That moment never came.

Inferno watched as, all of a sudden, one of the blips disappeared. Not fly away disappear, but blow up disappear. Then a second blip disappeared, then another. Turning to Rustbucket, Inferno asked, "Any idea what's going on?"

Rustbucket shook his head, but this time with a hint of a smile on his face.

As if to answer Inferno's question, the remaining drone flew passed the cockpit. It was followed by a flurry of pulse blasts. These were followed by a strange ripple, from which the pulse blasts originated. Upon seeing this, Inferno smiled.

Looking confused, Rustbucket asked, "What in the name of Primus was that?"

Inferno's smile widened, "Not what, _who_."

Rustbucket grew even more confused, but this ended after a few seconds of thought. "Oh," the old Autobot finally said, "_Him._"

Inferno nodded at the precise moment the final enemy blip winked off, "Sky Shadow."

Author's Note: Thank you for reading the first chapter. This happens to be the first fan fiction I have ever written. I hope you enjoyed it. I am willing to accept any criticisim, as long as it's not something along the lines of "this fanfic sucked and you are a terrible writer". I am also willing to accept any suggestions you may have. But just know that I have the story pretty much mapped out, so I probably won't accept suggestions for characters or major plot events. I am in need of someone who is willing to beta my stories and help me with the set up of my profile (seeing as I'm new to this site and anything that's not Myspace is alien to me). If you are willing, send me your email adress (or message me with the site if you can. Like I said, I don't really know this site), and your aid will be rewarded... somehow). Also, don't be misguided by the speed at which the next chapter will be posted. I uploaded this chapter when the next chapter was about half done.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Authors Note: I apologize for my extreme underestimation of the time it would take me to update. The long wait was due to a combination of school work, divorce arrangement, and writers block. Gotta love that writers block. If you spot any grammatical errors in this chapter, it is because I decided to spare you readers the longer wait while the chapter was proof-read. I promise I will have chapter three proof-read.

Speaking of grammatical errors, I spotted one in particular I made in the first chapter. It wasn't serious enough to rate a re-post, and I highly doubt the majority of the readers noticed. I had spelled the great and powerful live-giving cube 'Allspark'. According to Hasbro, the official spelling is 'All Spark'. In order to maintain accuracy with the source material (and make any obsessive compulsive readers happy), I shall use this spelling in the future.

Disclaimer: Transformers and all related characters are owned by Hasbro, not me. I own only the personalities of the non-movie characters, and the names of the characters I created.

**Chapter Two**

**A Shadow Takes Flight**

Unlike most warriors who served in the Decepticon army, Sky Shadow never thrived on destruction. He wasn't the typical Decepticon. He didn't kill Autobots for the joy of seeing their twisted metallic remains. He didn't get sadistic pleasure when hearing Autobots scream as their insides melted from pulse blasts to their chests. None of the things that pleased other Decepticons made Sky Shadow happy. These things did not drive him to do what he did. What drove him was something that his fellow Decepticons could never understand, or would never _want_ to. Sky Shadow was driven by something only his targets, the Autobots, could understand: justice.

Sky Shadow was built a century before Cybertron broke out in civil war. He, unlike transformers like Ironhide, who were built during the war, could vividly remember the times of peace. He remembered back when Optimus Prime and Megatron were still comrades (though when he looks back at those times, he can see the subtle tension between the two that he never noticed back then). He remembered seeing many pairs of friends that, a century later, would be locked in life or death combat with one another. Many times, even in the middle of a battle, Sky Shadow would think back to these happy times. Times when he could go out for a fly without the threat of having someone shoot at him. Times when he could just sit down and relax, with absolutely nothing to do. These times were long gone.

In his life before the war, Sky Shadow had spent most of his time with two fellow fliers: Skyfall and Thrust. Skyfall was his best friend. There was practically nothing that one would do without the other being included. Everything from joy flights to quiet reflections on their thoughts: if one did it, then so would the other. The two of them were almost inseparable.

His friendship with Thrust was another matter entirely. He respected Thrust's ability to think critically, to come up with _almost_ flawless plans for _almost_ every situation. Likewise, Thrust respected Sky Shadow's flight skills, which were by far superior to his own. Although this mutual respect made what _seemed_ to be a pretty stable friendship, in reality it was anything but. Sky Shadow could not stand to hear Thrust brag about _every _smart decision (by Thrust's definition, not Sky Shadow's) he ever made. And Thrust could not stand Sky Shadow's tendency to not perform to his full potential in any situation which Sky Shadow deemed the use of his skills a waste of energy. Skyfall always played the role of mediator whenever his two friends started one of their frequent arguments, but was successful in ending the arguments only about half of the time.

On the day before the war began, the trio was hanging out at their usual location, a large mountaintop overlooking Cybertron's capital. What would turn out to be the last argument, and meeting, between the three transformers began on that spot. But, unlike most of their arguments, Skyfall was not the mediator, but rather one of the arguers.

"Is the rumor true, Thrust? Is Megatron going to start a war for the All Spark?" Skyfall asked, hoping to hear his friend answer in the negative.

Sky Shadow watched Thrust's optics as Skyfall's query was answered. What he saw was as unsettling as it was predictable: pure joy.

"I'm afraid that it's not a rumor, but a fact," Thrust answered (though both of his friends knew he was not, as he put it, 'afraid'). "Megatron _is_ starting a war. The question you should be asking is where you will stand: with him, or against him?"

"Where are _you_ standing, Thrust?" Sky Shadow asked, though he already knew the answer. He had seen it in Thrust's optics.

"I plan on standing _with_ Megatron," Thrust answered, as if the reply should have been obvious.

Skyfall, unlike Sky Shadow, was shocked. "How could you, Thrust? From what I've heard, Megatron plans to destroy all who don't agree with him, without mercy!" Sky Shadow knew Skyfall was attempting to make Thrust change his mind, but knew it was just that: an attempt. An attempt that was doomed to fail.

Thrust was not affected by this small outburst in the least. "I'm fully aware of Lord Megatron's intentions, and I agree with them. All those who decide not to ally themselves with the seekers of _true_ power _deserve_ to be taught a lesson! With my vast tactical abilities, I'd perform that task easily!"

"Do my audio receptors deceive me, or is the self-proclaimed 'greatest tactical mind on Cybertron' running his vocal processor off again? I've warned you time and again, Thrust: If you keep filling your central processor up with all that nonsense, you'll wind up blowing quite a few fuses." No matter the situation, Sky Shadow could never pass up the chance to make fun of Thrust for his own personal amusement. By the way Thrust's optics flared, he could tell his remark had affected his fellow flier.

"Laugh all you want, Sky Shadow, it will most likely cost you later. So, where do _you_ stand, oh hilarious one?"

Sky Shadow thought for a moment, and then replied, "I'm not sure that I want to stand on _either_ side." From what he could tell, Thrust didn't seem surprised by that answer at all. Skyfall, on the other hand, was extremely surprised, perhaps more so that he had been at Thrust.

"WHAT?! HOW COULD YOU SAY THAT, SKY SHADOW?!"

"Quiet down and hear me out. The way I see it, I have the same chance of dieing no mater who I side with. Plus, I have no proof that _either_ of our leaders will approach the conflict the right way. I can practically see Prime sitting in his private chamber, trying to come up with a way to end the war with as little destruction as possible. Though I applaud his want for peace, I can't see Megatron ending his little war without Prime's head on a spike."

Skyfall wanted to argue further, though he did admit that his friend had a valid point. Thrust, on the other hand, had heard enough. Without even so much as a half-hearted goodbye, he turned and began to walk away. Skyfall began to run towards his departing friend in a last-ditch effort to change his mind, but Thrust stopped him with the last words he would ever speak to his former friend, "Stop, Skyfall. I've made my decision. If you want to join Prime in his eventual destruction, then so be it. Our friendship is over as of this moment. The next time we meet, it shall be on the battlefield. And I _will_ destroy you." With that, Thrust leapt into the air, transformed to jet mode, and flew away as fast as he could.

Sky Shadow and Skyfall watched as Thrust disappeared over the horizon, each wondering if they would ever see him again, and what would happen if they did.

After a few seconds of silence, Skyfall turned to his friend and asked, "Did you really mean all that? Will you remain neutral as Cybertron is torn apart in civil war?"

"I never said I wouldn't pick a side. I just need to make sure that the side I choose is one with a cause I agree with."

"Then we must go to Optimus at once. Surely he can convince you to fight on the right side."

Sky Shadow thought this over for a moment, and then replied, "Okay, we'll go see Prime. But do we have to go right now? If he does convince me to go to war, then I want to make sure I enjoy the free time I have left."

Skyfall looked confused, "What do you mean?"

Sky Shadow smiled, "I mean I want to have some fun. Race you back home."

Skyfall smiled as well, "Alright, let's go. On the count of three?"

"You can count if you want," Sky Shadow said as he transformed to jet mode, "I won't."

"Hey! That's not fair!!" Skyfall yelled, but it was too late. By the time the final word came out, Sky Shadow had already completed his transformation and sped off towards the city. Shaking his head, Skyfall ran to the edge of the cliff and transformed, instantly going to maximum speed in an attempt to catch up to his friend. But Sky Shadow's superior flight skills (and his extremely unfair head start) made that impossible. All Skyfall could do was follow in his friend's wake as the two fliers made their way to their respective homes.

* * *

Every Transformer on Cybertron had to, at some point, replenish the energy they used up in everyday activities. This was done at special recharge stations located in the Transformer's home. Both Skyfall and Sky Shadow had docked themselves into their respective stations when they had returned home. Most Transformers went into a form of stasis (a sleep mode if you will) when recharging, partly because it cut down on the recharge time by making sure the incoming energy wasn't instantly being used up by the Transformer performing other tasks. But the main reason behind the stasis mode was the simple fact that, what with the design of the station forcing the Transformer to remain in a fixed position, there was nothing for the Transformer to occupy his or her time with during the recharge process. Skyfall had gone into stasis as soon as he was fully connected to his station, but Sky Shadow had not. He had too much to think about.

This was pretty common for Sky Shadow. He was one of those Transformers who could spend hours thinking extremely deep thoughts on a variety of subjects. This was one of Sky Shadow's quirks: If he began to think about something, he had to complete the thought. He couldn't just stop thinking about it without resolving it. In this case, the conversation with Thrust kept replaying itself over and over in his head.

Sky Shadow couldn't believe that Thrust had spoken like that. He was used to having points of view that differed from Thrust's, just as he was used to the arguments that followed whenever these conflicting points of view clashed. What bothered Sky Shadow wasn't the way their viewpoints differed, but how Thrust had handled the argument. Usually their arguments consisted of trying to get the other to see things their way, but both were at least willing (however reluctantly) to admit that their points may be wrong, but not this time. Thrust had been determined that his viewpoint was the right one, and had decided that nobody could make him see otherwise. Skyfall would have probably had an easier time trying to get a boulder to change its mind. Thrust's unwavering stance, coupled with his willingness to commit the atrocities that Megatron was rumored to be preparing for, disturbed Sky Shadow immensely. Thrust had never been a saint, but had never been bloodthirsty either. He had always believed that punishment should be administered when punishment was due, but had never seemed to take pleasure in the thought of said punishment. Sky Shadow couldn't help but wonder if this side of Thrust had just recently came into existence, or if it had been there all along, hidden deep within the confines of his central processor. What plagued Sky Shadow even more were Thrust's final words. Those words would probably remain in his thoughts for the rest of his days, regardless of weather or not Thrust acted upon them: _The next time we meet, it shall be on the battlefield. And I _will_ destroy you._ The phrase continued to repeat itself over and over in Sky Shadow's head until he decided that his thoughts could go no farther, and he let himself slip into stasis.

* * *

After the return to district in which they lived (a return which Sky Shadow had made faster that Skyfall had, much to Sky Shadow's amusement), but before they went to their separate homes, the two friends had made a decision. Or, to be more accurate, Skyfall made a decision and convinced Sky Shadow to go along with it. The two of them would go see Optimus Prime the next day, in order to convince Sky Shadow to join Prime's cause. Sky Shadow had agreed to this action not because he felt closer to Prime's view than Megatron's, but because of the realization that if he went to Megatron first he most likely wouldn't survive to see Prime afterward if he wanted to.

The two friends flew off from their homes as soon as they "awoke" the next day. Like in the race the night before, Sky Shadow was in the lead. But, unlike the previous night, Sky Shadow was not trying to win. Skyfall was lagging, which was not like him at all.

"Is something wrong, Skyfall?" Sky Shadow asked. "I'm used to being in front of you, but usually I have to work for it."

Skyfall was quiet for a moment, the replied, "Yes, something's wrong. I think I overworked my engines in our little race. I was hoping that running an internal repair cycle while recharging would fix the problem. Apparently I was wrong."

"Gee, you think?" Sky Shadow remarked. Sky Shadow was the kind of bot who never missed an opportunity to poke fun at someone else, especially his best friend.

"Your sympathy is much appreciated," Skyfall said sarcastically, "At least you seem to be functioning normally."

"That's something to be happy about," Sky Shadow chuckled, "but enough about me. Are you going to be okay?

Skyfall was quiet for a few moments, running a self-diagnostic. His eventual reply was far from positive. "I don't think I'll be able to make it all the way to Optimus Prime's personal chambers. I think we should make a pit stop at the nearest repair station."

"Alright," Sky Shadow replied, altering his course towards this new destination. "As long as I don't have to go inside with you." Sky Shadow had developed a slight fear of medic bots after he had crashed on one of his ever frequent races. The medic who had repaired him was a trainee, one who (as Sky Shadow had accurately guessed) was down near the bottom of his class. The bumbling medic-to-be had tried to "fix" a system that didn't need fixing. Sky Shadows higher reasoning circuitry told him that not all medics who touched him afterwards would do the same thing, but he wasn't very keen on testing that theory.

Skyfall understood the meaning of the reply, and decided to have some fun of his own. "Are you sure? I bet we could get a nice trainee to do a basic systems check on you. Wouldn't that be fun?"

"Shut up," Sky Shadows instantaneously replied. Skyfall had found (yet again) Sky Shadow's weak point, and was exploiting the opportunity to poke fun at his ever joking companion.

"Aw, come on. Maybe we could set you up as the medical academy's test bot. You could be the graduation operation for the next graduating class."

"Didn't I tell you to shut up?"

Skyfall made it to the repair station without crashing, though he did start to list for the last kilometer. True to his word, Sky Shadow did not follow his friend into the station, deciding instead to remain airborne. Flying in a holding pattern above the giant metal spire, Sky Shadow found himself thinking about the upcoming war. Ever since his creation, Sky Shadow had believed that life would be nothing but one extremely long stretch of free time. He had hoped that the time of peace in which he came online would never end, and that his time would be spent doing whatever he wanted until time itself came to an end. But that no longer seemed to be that case. Soon Cybertron would be thrown into a war, if what Thrust said was accurate. Though Sky Shadow hoped that his friend had been wrong, deep down he knew Thrust had been truthful. Skyfall knew that, no matter what choice he made today, he would wind up involved in the war eventually. He had a feeling that any bot who decided to remain neutral would probably not escape the fate of the willing combatants. The war would reach every Transformer, no matter how they felt about it. The only question was when the conflict would begin.

As if in answer to Sky Shadow's unspoken question, something exploded inside the spire below him.

Fearing for the safety of his friend, Sky Shadow dived towards the repair station. But his heroic intent would not help anyone. A second, much larger explosion rocked the spire. The shockwave created by the second blast hit Sky Shadow, sending him back up to the sky he had dove from. Sky Shadow tried to regain control of his movements, but the shockwave had damaged his engine systems. No longer able to resist it, gravity regained its grip on the damaged flier. Sky Shadow fell toward the rocky ground below, unable to pull up. He barely had time to note that he had once again been harmed during a trip to a repair station before he met the ground, knocking him unconscious.

Sky Shadow woke up in the middle of a crater, his front end wedged under a pile of rubble. Converting to robot mode, he pushed himself up from the ground and climbed out of the crater. Shaking gravel off himself, Sky Shadow ran a self diagnostic. His engine systems were down, along with his internal chronometer, explaining why he had no idea how long he had been unconscious. But other than those systems, and some minor dents, he was fine. Sky Shadow looked around, trying to figure out where he was.

His optics eventually found the metallic spire of the repair station, or to be more accurate, half the spire. The other half littered the ground in metal shards of various shapes and sizes. Scattered among these shards were bits and pieces of the medical machinery the spire had once contained, along with parts of the spire's previous occupants.

Dread and despair gripped the damaged flier. There was no way Skyfall had survived the explosion. If he had, he would have surely located Sky Shadow by now. Sky Shadow fell to his knees, his despair consuming him. This despair turned to rage, which Sky Shadow vented with an anguished cry to the heavens.

"Why? Why did Skyfall have to die? WHO DID THIS?!"

"Autobots."

Sky Shadow stood up and turned toward the sound of the voice. Another Transformer was standing a few meters away. Sky Shadow could tell from the configuration that this Transformer was a flier like himself. And like Sky Shadow, this Transformer seemed to have a likeness for cryptic responses.

"What did you say?" Sky Shadow asked.

"Autobots," the newcomer repeated. "The name of those who chose to follow Optimus Prime."

Sky Shadow was, once again, confused. "But I thought Prime was against that sort of destruction."

The newcomer laughed. "If only that were true. Prime's words of peace and kindness were nothing more that an elaborate façade. All he cares about is having the All Spark in his possession, and destroying anyone who conspires to take it away from him. There was a Transformer who wanted to do just that in the repair station, so Prime ordered his destruction. Collateral damage means nothing for our 'peaceful' planetary leader."

Sky Shadow could not believe it. He had always thought Optimus Prime had been a peace fanatic. All those speeches about non-violent solutions had been nothing but lies. Anger filling him once more, Sky Shadow balled his hands into fists, digging groves into his palms.

"He killed my best friend."

"And for that he and his precious Autobots shall pay," said the newcomer, "I promise you that. I have been watching you for some time, Sky Shadow. Your flying skills are quite impressive. You could be of great use to me, or should I say Megatron."

The newcomer extended a hand toward Sky Shadow. "Join the Decepticons, and together we can avenge your fallen friend, and every other innocent spark that explosion extinguished."

Sky Shadow took the outstretched had in his own, and shook it, "Sounds good to me. The Autobots deserve to be brought to justice." Sky Shadow let go of the newcomer's hand, then asked, "So, what's your name anyway?"

"My name," the newcomer replied, "is Starscream."

Authors Note: And that, after the long wait, was chapter two. In anticipation of comments about the whole recharge station thing, I feel I should offer an explanation as to why I included it. There are two main reasons. The first being that I wanted to have some differences between the bots built for peace and bots built for war. It makes no sense for every single Transformer on the planet to be outfitted as war machines while they are at peace. Maybe some security forces could be, but not the whole population. That's just asking for trouble. How would you like it if your neighbor has enough firepower to turn your home into rubble? The other reason was that I find it easier to write about things that I have experienced. I have been kept awake in my bed pondering big thoughts many times, and I envisioned Sky Shadow to be that kind of bot. Hopefully the wait for chapter three will not be as long as the wait for this chapter.


End file.
